David R. Nelson, Ph.D.

Research Interests

My work is on the evolutionary genomics of Cytochrome P450. This involves bioinformatic
methods to find, assemble and name all P450 (CYP) genes in public and project specific
databases. This data is used to trace the evolutionary history of this large and biochemically
significant gene superfamily. The data I collect and curate is kept on the Cytochrome P450 Homepage. This site lists more than 4500 named P450 genes, with various links to other related
sites. Many of my lectures given at cytochrome P450 meetings are posted there with
slides and text. Also, many relevant publications are posted in PDF format on the site, and more
are being added, including those rare and hard to find papers from before the internet
days publications link.

I am also interested in the early evolution of eukaryotes as defined by unique events
in the history of life like the fusion of Cytochrome oxidase I and II in the mitochondrial
genomes of Mycetozoans. This molecular rarity is called a synapomorphy and marks a
clade in the tree of life. Because the event is so rare, it can be inferred to have
happened only one time, so all organisms that share this feature must share a common
ancestor. The history of life can be reconstructed by finding such events in the genome
databases. For more info see my Molecular History of Life Page.

One must always keep a sense of humor about oneself, and so I offer this picture showing
me hard at work in bioinformatics Nirvana.